Thelma M. Bovard

Thelma M Bovard, 91, of Bloomington, formerly of Canton, Galesburg and Abingdon, passed away on Monday, June 19, 2023 at St Joseph Hospital in Bloomington.

She was born on September 11, 1931 in Banner Township, IL, to Albert and Ruth (Stufflebeam) Williams. They preceded her in death.

She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Carl Bovard. They were married on November 1, 1957 in Abingdon, Illinois.

Also surviving are three children, Tim Bovard of Little Rock Arkansas, Carol (John) Craig of Merritt Island, FL, Diana (Gary) Wang of Bloomington, one sister, Hilda (the late Lester) Murphy of Canton and five grandchildren, Dan Craig and Gillian Craig of Merritt Island, FL, Lillian Wang, Ellen Wang, and Gretchen Wang of Bloomington, IL.

Also preceding her in death are three brothers, Carl Williams, Cecil Williams, Glenn “Amos Williams and one sister, Wilma Buley.

Thelma worked as a Math Teacher for several years in Avon, London Mills, and Abingdon, IL. After she raised 3 kids, she went back to work part time and was a secretary at Cardinal Engineering for approximately 15 years. Then she worked for her daughter Carol’s company Craig Technologies for another 18 years. She always had a mantra that “retiring isn’t Biblical” so she didn’t ever think of herself as retired. She was a longtime member of Abingdon UMC, the Galesburg UMC, Wesley UMC in Canton and for the last 6 years, Wesley UMC in Bloomington, IL. She loved doing genealogy work on her computer and kept track of both sides of her family and both sides of her husband’s family on the computer. She was a good seamstress and still had her 1970s Singer sewing machine. In her younger years, she and her husband enjoyed visiting friends and family on Sunday afternoons and would often engage in the card game of Pitch or dominoes. Technology was never an issue for Thelma as well. Even at 91, she was quite proficient at texting her children and grandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Monday, July 10, 2023 from 4-8 pm at Oaks-Hines Funeral Home in Canton with a funeral service to follow on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 11 am at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Walnut Cemetery in Banner.

Memorials may be made to the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research.

To leave online condolences, please visit www.oakshinesfuneralhome.com